Remember that time we went on tour?

Day 1: O’Brien’s in Allston with Mundy’s Bay, on tour from Canada. Is it cheating if you kick off and close out tour in your own hometown? At your “neighborhood spot?” Maybe…

Day 2: Mac650 Gallery, Middletown, CT. We got to play with the ever-wonderful Dani of Quiet Giant and Glambat, both of whom were fantastic solo acts. Joining us was also Zanders, by far the most jazz-influenced indie-pop band we’ve ever played with. It was a really great space – a long, thin room with a nice natural echo, and it’s run by really nice people.

The next day, we hung out with Dani and walked around downtown New Haven. We had classy old-fashioneds, went to a very well-stocked candy store, and tried to find Chris a sleeping bag, to no avail. We got the closest to Ivy League any of us will ever be when we walked through the Yale campus, too!

Day 3: Gold Sounds, Brooklyn, New York. Nicole of Ilan Makes Noise and Early Riser booked us on this show with Hard Pass and Giant Peach! So big ups to Nicole (who is also a badass yogi, please go to Pouzza Fest and do yoga with her sometime)!

New York City is always an interesting experience for me. It’s simultaneously terrifying and intriguing. As a person who grew up in a small city and now lives in a slightly larger city, a place as huge and sprawling and teeming as New York is always a little overwhelming. We arrived a little early for the show and wandered around a little bit. We got sandwiches at this place called Falafel Queen and while looking for a restroom, we found the weirdest place; an art-rock dance club called the House of Yes. It was the most New York thing I’ve ever seen!

On our way into New Jersey, we stopped off at Coney Island and went to the New York Aquarium and walked along the boardwalk. It was my first time at Coney Island and it was really cool! We saw people dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Pikachu, which was a little bizarre. And we waited in line for half an hour for food at the Nathan’s stand. All part of the sweaty, salty Coney experience! We also hit up Champs Vegan Diner before we left the city and it was SO GOOD. I got the big combo breakfast with pancakes and hash browns and tofu scramble. I urge you all to try Champs if you’re ever in Brooklyn!

Day 4: Index Art Space, Newark, NJ. Our good friend from afar, Skateboard Kyle, hooked us up with a cool art space gig. We played with LKFFCT, a band that sounds like the soundtrack to every cool 90s teen movie. They were great! Kyle also had a bunch of friendly cats. I’ve known Kyle from the internet for a long time so it was cool to finally meet him in person!

Day 5: Philadelphia, PA! Our Mount Everest as far as booking goes! We did it thanks to Drea Rose, the hardest-working booker in Philly. We did a super rad house show in a packed 100-degree finished basement with the amazing Ramona and Blushed. During our set I jokingly asked for a sweatband, and someone literally found a terrycloth sweatband for me and threw it to me while we were playing. Chris and Diego had a beer-shotgunning contest and it still isn’t clear who won. All in all, good night, great town!

Day 6: Western MA. Red Kross House in Northampton is a wonderful place. We played with another touring band, Aunt Sis, and hometown heroes/stoner rock shredders Phenomena 256. It was another great night in a basement – we started playing to about 4 people, and when I looked up after the first song, the basement was packed! Aunt Sis was super good and Phenomena 256 blew the doors off. There was a smoke machine! It was a classic Western MA vibe. We were also able to hit Bueno y Sano ahead of the gig for burritos so that was extra good! We did find a rabbit costume head in one of the bathrooms, though… CREEPY.

Day 7: Winooski, Vermont at The Monkey House. Does the genre “glamour trash witchcore” mean anything to you? Well if you’re curious, you can always go check out Jessica Rabbit Syndrome, an awesome new band with ties to Boston and the Green Mountain State. They played in sparkly capes and had a song about binge-eating pork rinds in your car. Coming from Providence, RI was Hot Tramps, a Chris Faulkner band. All of Chris’ bands are wonderful and have a ripping garage-rock sound. They were so much fun to watch! Winooski is a cool town, too. I think it’s technically part of Burlington?! Anyway, it was great. The drive in was really cool – all fog and rolling hills and a weird radio station.

Day 8: Boston! Home again, home again. Just in time for a matinee blast at Brighton Music Hall for Do617’s Allston Christmas. It was cool to have a show in the middle of the day as our last show because we were able to go home and recuperate before going back to work the next day. It was a trip to play at BMH – it’s a huge venue and the sound is absolutely incredible. I regret not being able to nab any video of our set there because it sounded awesome. Plus I’ve seen so many of my favorite bands on that stage and it was a real head trip to be standing in that same spot playing OUR songs. Thanks Adam Parshall for hooking up the hot gig for us! Expert photo skills from Adam Parshall, Shayna Murphy, and Greg Zapata.

It was great to be back home, but I miss being on tour sometimes. That means… stay tuned for more tour plans in the new year!

Deep, heartfelt thanks to everyone who booked us, housed us, hung out with us, and showed us a good time. It is so cool to make friends in new cities, widen the network, and build community across state lines with other DIY-minded folks. It’s exhausting, rewarding, and rejuvenating to be able to make and share music with good people.